


Ms. Palustris

by Arelia_Luminot, SatinRibbon



Series: Anna Palustris [2]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: A+ friendship yay, Coming out(?), Crossdressing Reid, Derek being a lil oblivious, Fluff, Friends being supportive, Garcia being Tech Goddess, Garcia being awesome, Gen, Humor, Reid as Anna being a shit, Reid being a shit, You guys asked for this, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 05:56:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9109576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arelia_Luminot/pseuds/Arelia_Luminot, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SatinRibbon/pseuds/SatinRibbon
Summary: This is how the team finds out about Anna. A kinda prequel to the story of Mr. Hotchner!





	

**Author's Note:**

> You guys asked for it! So, we provided! Please tell us if you notice any mistakes, thank you.

Reid had been introduced to the lifestyle rather young. During his freshman year of college, or well, the third freshman year of college technically as he was working on his third degree at the age of 17, Spencer had an interesting roommate. The man was just as quiet, and shy as Spencer, yet even slighter and even more androgynous than himself. It wasn’t until Spencer was on an all night bender that he saw. The man looked fantastic to be honest. Long hair curled delicately, lipstick and gloss applied just so, and a dress that showed off curves that existed despite the lack of breasts. Nylon stockings came down to feet that were in flats, as he probably wasn’t that confident in his persona yet. 

They’d sat down and had a long conversation, as Spencer had found himself interested as to why. There were many reasons as to why someone would crossdress. Usually, it was either gender affiliation or a kink. Both were generally accepted, and yet, he knew there was an infinite amount of reasons that could be given. When his friend explained that when he was his female persona, he could be outgoing and extroverted when he normally couldn't. He suggested Reid try it, at least once. 

Reid had been building Anna ever since. He had thought the name quite clever at the time and his friend taught him make up and hair tips. It took years but he also perfected her voice and laugh, having had to really study Southern dialect. He had been planning to keep it a secret, no one else had to know he was Anna, and he didn’t really believe he would ever end up involved with someone as her. 

However, he did not expect to become coworkers with Profilers. Sure, it had been a dream of his ever since they gave a seminar at his university, but he never expected it to actually happen. So, when his dream did become reality, he had tried to be careful, though apparently it was not enough. 

***  
Gideon

It had been an unexpected call to action. Reid had been getting ready to go out for the weekend, having already curled his hair and applied foundation to make his face more androgynous, as there was only so much he could do about his masculine features. It was just before he started to apply the other make ups that he got the call. 

He didn't have time to clean himself up as this was a kidnapping and had to be handled quickly. The makeup wasn't obvious as he tied his hair up, changing out of the cute jeans and blouse he had been wearing into slacks and a button up, grabbing his bag and leather satchel before running out the door. 

This round table meeting was the worst one he'd ever had, and not just because of the missing child. Gideon kept staring at him, like he was reading all his secrets right off his face. He avoided eye contact for the entire case, making the entire thing drag like nothing had done before other than public speaking. He even kept looking at him like that the next day after he'd been able to shower and clean everything off.

The case took priority and after about twenty hours into the kidnapping and the awkwardness fell away in lieu of the job. They worked and eventually caught the kidnapper, and saved the thirteen year old girl. She suffered a few cuts and bruises, but most of her injuries would be psychological.

On the jet home, Reid calculated that there was 0.7289% chance of not being cornered by Gideon. This proved to be true when Gideon sat across from him while he played solitaire. 

The man watched him before simply asking. 

“What's her name?”

Reid relaxed, not hearing any condescending or disgusted tone in his father figure's voice. He smiled softly.

“Anna.” He responded. 

Apparently, Morgan heard their conversation and started teasing the genius about his ‘girlfriend’. The conversation was never brought up again by Gideon, which Reid knew was his own version of a stamp of approval, for which Spencer was thankful. Eventually, he did come up to him and say if he ever needed to talk about it, he could come to him, which he was grateful for.

One down six to go, though at the time, he only thought it was five.  
***  
Rossi

After Gideon, Reid knew he had to be careful. The team always made their plans for the weekend rather loud and obvious, arguing over which bar they were going to, which ones they refused to go to, that kind of deal. Rossi was unpredictable in ways that Reid couldn’t even read, which made him kind of nervous. He’d say he was going to one place and end up another if the first didn’t have what he was looking for. So, Reid had to pick the bars he went to as Anna carefully, as Rossi seemed to be rather conservative, and so was Anna, to a point. 

So, he headed out to a rather classy bar he knew welcomed those like him and those just exploring with open arms. It wasn’t too expensive but it wasn’t like the really loud clubs that Morgan, JJ, Emily and Garcia frequented. It also wasn’t like the quiet, subdued kind of bar that Hotch would frequent. So, Reid thought he was safe there.

It was a nice night to be out for sure. Anna had been easily moving from group to group. It was casual flirting, really too early in the night to be looking for a conquest. Not that he particularly wanted one to begin with. Not to mention the nice black skirt that molded nicely to his legs and ended above his knee to show off his pretty white stockings with the swirling lace pattern matched the flowy white button up he was wearing, was earning him a few free drinks and longing looks. The attention was very nice.

That was until a very familiar, gruff Italian accent made Anna freeze. Oh no. No that couldn't be. Anna squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. Anna hadn't seen him yet but that didn't mean much. He really didn't want a confrontation so he turned to leave and nearly ran right into Rossi. Brown eyes met and they stared. Rossi was one of the oldest profilers put there. One of the first, one of the best. Surely he would know. Anna broke eye contact first.

Rossi just kind of blinked at him before excusing himself from his partner. He motioned to the bar and led the way. The motion and walking gave Anna an out but honestly, he figured Rossi knew, so he might as well explain.

As soon as he got to the bar, he was handed a drink. Club soda. Blinking, Anna took it and opened his mouth to speak. 

“Listen,” Rossi cut him off, “I know there are many reasons to cross dress. That's not any of my business. Just know I'm here for you, kid. Just tell me if I need to stop doing or start doing anything. Other than that, I'll not treat you any different. You're still a good friend.” Anna smiled softly. 

“Just...like this I go by Anna. So no one from work can find out. I'm male and I'm not trying to convince anyone into thinking I'm not but I really don't care if you call me he or she. Just remember I am very firm in that fact. This is mainly for me. It makes it easier for me to...talk to people.” Anna's accent stayed firmly in place as he spoke. 

“It gives me confidence.” Anna shrugged and gave a shy smile. Rossi grinned. 

“Then go have fun, kid. Don’t let me ruin your night. Don’t want anyone thinking a pretty young thing like you is being harassed by an old guy like me” he teased, ending their conversation with a lascivious wink that left Anna laughing.  
***  
Garcia

It's not like she did this for pleasure. Keeping an eye on everyone's accounts and making sure they were all okay was her job. She didn't mean to pry into what they bought, but while scanning through looking for signs of identity theft, sometimes things caught her eye.

So she was scanning through Reid's when she stumbled across something that made her sit straight up and move closer to her screen. It was a purchase, a recent one at that, for lingerie styled like a females but altered for men to wear. It was from a very expensive shop, and had cost so much it made Garcia dizzy.

Oh no. She couldn't...she couldn't just sit quietly about this either. She had to apologize to Reid for poking into his business, and most importantly explain that there was a much cheaper place to find this stuff, and of higher quality. Everyone had already gone home though. So Garcia canceled the purchase and decided that it would have to wait. 

In the morning, she strode up to Reid, asking him quietly to talk alone. Naturally, her baby nerd came with her and she spilled about viewing his purchase history and learning his secret. She looked up to him with wide eyes, hoping it was okay. 

“Garcia, I understand, really. Just...um, not Everyone knows? Well everyone but Morgan and Hotch.” Reid's face grew red. “Please don't tell them?” 

“Of course, Reid. And I'm here if you need anything. You know that, right?”

Reid smiled and nodded, which made Garcia feel that much lighter as she prepared for the second part of this speech.

“Actually I kinda wish I had known before had. I canceled the order you placed on that horrible website and got you the same exact outfit half price at one of my favorite places. It should even be delivered two days sooner.” She explained, showing Reid a picture of his new bill. Before Reid had time to react two nicely toned arms wrapped themselves around Garcia.

“Morning Baby Girl, fawning over nerd stuff with the pretty boy today?” Morgan asked, causing both Reid and Garcia to die laughing. 

***  
JJ

Reid had no idea how he could be this sick. He'd had to call out of work and everything. He was completely bed ridden so he was very happy when JJ showed up to help. Of course though, this was paired with stubbornness. 

“JJ, I'll be fine, you really don't have to do this.” Spencer croaked from the bed.

“You know you can't get rid of me now, Spence. Now, let's get you into something better to sleep in than those slacks.” JJ had noticed that Reid had seemingly fallen right into bed after work yesterday. 

It just proved to Reid's fever that he didn't even react when she started to go through his drawers. It wasn't until she went quiet that he looked up.

JJ stood there, holding one of his nicer skirts with a raised eyebrow, obviously noticing that it was his size. What could she say? She had a good eye. He opened his mouth to explain but was cut off.

“Your business is your business, Spence, but I totally expect to go shopping and have fun together. As matter of fact, as soon as you’re over this flu I'm taking you shopping. You need some brightness in here.” JJ stated, and Spencer couldn't help the smile on his face.

***  
Prentiss

Prentiss found out in a rather odd fashion. She had plenty of gay friends in the area. So when she got a text from one of them with a group picture that had what looked like a female circled with the words ‘holy shit, hot’, she was very confused to say the least.

Until she really started looking. There were a few more photos of her friend with the girl when it hit her that wasn't a girl at all but a male. Then, there was something...it bothered her. There was something about the picture that seemed familiar. It wasn't until there was a picture of the group they were in and the so called ‘hottie’ was rolling their eyes fondly that it hit her.

Holy shit, that was Doctor Spencer Reid.

Huh. He looked damn good in pastel pink. Wait a second, weren’t those JJ’s earrings?

 

Looks like they needed to have a conversation  
***  
Lastly, Morgan

Morgan could tell something was up. He just couldn’t place his finger on what. It had something to do with all of the women on his team, and Reid. At first, he thought he was most likely imagining it. Reid was shy and known to keep secrets as was Emily, yeah, but JJ and Garcia  
would usually slip up. 

It was little things that gave it away. Garcia showing pictures to Reid and refusing to show Morgan. JJ lecturing Reid on the pros and cons of chiffon and then not telling Morgan what that was or how it was important. Googling gave Morgan no foresight into their conversation as all he got were images of a flowy material. Emily planning out elaborate shopping trips and including Reid. 

At first Morgan thought the girls were probably trying to get the shy doctor used to being around women. Help him up his game maybe. But then it got stranger. He would find the girls and Reid hiding in a meeting room, only to have them quickly shove magazines in their purses and stare at him like he was intruding. They would get into whisper conversations and quiet when he came near. He even heard them saying things like “that was great last night” and “we should totally go there again.” Then there was the cincher. After the fifth time Morgan had caught Reid coming out of the bathroom with one of girls in tow, and their uniforms in hair so perfectly in place that had to have only just been done, Morgan decided he needed to have a talk with the resident pretty boy.

“Reid, man, You know you can talk to me right?” Morgan asked cornering the genius by the elevator one day.

“I know. Why?” Reid asked, looking up at his teammate.

“It’s just… This think you’ve got going on with the girls, you know? I just wanna make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.” Morgan explained. The last thing Derek wanted was to see any of his co-workers fired for fraternization. 

“Thing?” Reid asked, giving Morgan an entirely too real confused look.

“I’m not going to try and get you guys caught or anything, or pressure you into telling me the sordid details, but I want you to know that I’m here for you.” Spencer stared at him until they heard the elevator ding, and they both stepped in. Neither spoke for the whole ride down. Finally as they were stepping off Reid replied.

“Derek, you should come out with us tonight. You know, to show your support.” Reid said. Morgan agreed, completely missing the sly smirk on the face of his colleague as he walked away.

Later that night Morgan was sitting at a table with Rossi, Garcia, and Emily, waiting for JJ and Reid to arrive. He was telling a joke about a fisherman and a head of cabbage when all of the sudden a woman placed herself on Rossi’s lap.

“Well good evening Mr. Rossi, fancy running into such a fine gentleman in this part of town.” Without missing a beat Rossi wrapped his arms around the woman and replied.

“Well if it isn’t Miss Anna Palustris. Miss Anna, how are you doing?” 

“I was feelin a bit down, but I think my spirits are risin now.” Anna teased back. Then she turned to Morgan.

“And who might this fine young man be?” She asked, eyeing him up and down. Derek stared. JJ, who had come up with Anna, bit her lip to stop from laughing. Garcia was recording the whole thing. Emily was biting her hand and shaking with laughter. Derek took a deep breath, smirked, and decided why the hell not.

“Names Derek Morgan, but a pretty boy such as yourself can call me Derek.” He said with a wink.

A smirk grew on red painted lips, as those around them burst into laughter. 

“About damn time you got it.”


End file.
